US2049320A - Cigarette - Google Patents

Description

Jy 28, ma@ H. RUBEN Er AL 2,9,32

CIGARETTE Filed Dec. 2, 1953 JQ vfz fans: )gw gm, Z4 m fa/Mand y w Y Patented July 28, 1936 VUNITED STATES PATENT ortica Salomonski, Berlin Germany; said Buben assignor to; Elsbeth Ruben, Charlottenburg, near Berlin, Germany Application December 2, 1933, Serial No. 700,710

' In Germany December 8, 1932 4 Claims.

'Our invention relates to cigarettes, and 4it is an object of our invention to provide a cigarette with means for extinguishing its burning wrapper and tobacco ller, to prevent smouldering of dis- 5 carded cigarettes.

To this end, we treat a zone of the wrapper with a compound which contains an impregnating agent of non-combustion 'supporting properties and an amorphous, organic and liquidbinding substance. Y

The non-combustion-supporting agent must not soak the wrapper, butpenetrateonly for a portion of its thickness so that the non-penetrated portion remains flexible andthe paper does not become weak and brittle.

A suitable compound has the following composition, in per cent by weight:

Water glass (KzSiOa or NazSiOa) 49 Glycerine 1 20 starch 25 Tale 25 In this compolmd the waterglass is the noncombustion-supporting agent, and the starch 25 is the amorphous, organic and liquid-binding substance. The glycerine and talc are added for imparting ductility and resiliency to the Wrapper. We are not limited to a compound of exactly the above composition but may vary the com- 30 position as required. In particular, the percentage of starch must be regulated in conformity with the water content of the water glass. Such regulation is by no means dicult. A desideratum is that the fourth part of the compound 35` should be talc, and that 1% glycerine should be present. Therefore, the percentage of starch vshould be regulated so as to obtain a total percentage of 74 for the water glass and the starch. Preferably, the amorphous compound is ap- 40 plied to the wrapper of the cigarette by spraying. As mentioned, the water glass impregnates the wrapper without soaking it, i. e., it penetrates only for a portion of the wrappers thickness so that the balance of the wrapper remains flexible. 45 By these means, only a superficial layer of the wrapper is penetrated by the impregnating liquid. The starch in the compound absorbs any excess of water which might soak the Wrapper.

Any kind of starch may be used for the com- 50 pound but preferably it should be ne grained and pure White so that the layer of amorphous compound is invisible on the wrapper.

As a rule, the compound is applied to the inner side of the Wrapper, in the immediate vicinity of 55 its tobacco ller, but it may also be applied to and thereupon applying the outer side of the wrapper, or both to the inner and outer sides thereof. Even in the lastmentioned case, with impregnated zones at both sides of the wrapper, the impregnating liquid does not soak the paper of the wrapper but leaves an intermediate zone of unimpregnated paper, as has been found by microscopic investigation.

The amorphous compound may be applied to the wrapper in asingle operation and this is obviously preferable with respect to the manufacture of the cigarettes but we may also subdivide the operation into two stages by rst impregnating the wrapper, for instance, with water glass or alum, of such concentration that the impregnating agent will not soak the wrapper,

the amorphous compound to the impregnated zone of the wrapper.

Any other substances may be admixed to the amorphous compound in addition to those recited above, but under all conditions the compound should contain glycerine and talc, preferably in the proportions of l and respectively, as otherwise the Wrapper would not be as ductile and resilient as required. 25

A substance which is preferably admixed to the compound, is powdered metal or alloy, for instance, powdered bronze.

Oui' invention is performed with simple means and does not increase the cost of manufacture while on the other hand cigarettes which have been treated according to our invention, are superior to those which are on the market at present.

The smouldering of discarded cigarette ends is undesirable under all conditions, and often dangerous. Cigarettes smouldering in an ash tray are particularly unpleasant. Means for extinguishing discarded cigarette ends have already been proposed but they do not eliminate the drawback altogether, apart from the fact that they require the smokers attention.

It has been found that the smouldering of a cigarette is determined by the smouldering of its Wrapper. 'I'he glowing portions of the wrapper 45' creep and ignite the tobacco of the filler but this ignition is secondary, provided, of course, that the cigarette has been discarded, i. e., the smoking has been discontinued. Smouldering is therefore prevented by extinguishing the dame in the Wrapper.

It has already been proposed, as described in U. S. patent to Weil, No. 1,555,320, September 29, 1925, for Cigarette, to treat the paper of wrappers with a non-combustion supporting liquid but the use of an amorphous compound is nowhere disclosed, nor does the patentee limit the penetration oi the liquid into the wrapper.

'I'he said patentee also proposes to provide a band on the cigarette for extinguishing its wrapper but this is not desirable as the band shows and renders the lpaper of the wrapper less ductile and ilexible.

It has alsodleen proposed to prevent smouldering by provi ng a. layer on the wrapper, or by impregnating the wrapper.

A layer, in order to be effective, must be comparatively thick and it does not make a difierence in this respect whether it is on the inner or on the outer side of the wrapper. Such a thick layer, however, renders the wrapper less iiexible and this is particularly undesirable if the cigarettes are made mechanically.

Impregnation also involves certain diiliculties. Firstly, an impregnation which is expected to be effective by itself, cannot be obtained in a fraction of a second which is the time available for the impregnation in modern cigarette manufacture. Secondly, .an eective impregnation involves soaking of the wrapper throughout its thickness by which, as stated above, the exibility and strength of the paper are reduced too much.

Our invention eliminates these drawbacks by associating the impregnated material with the layer. Preferably, in a cigarette having a layer of an amorphous and non-combustion supporting substance for preventing smouldering, the irnpregnation involves only the surface layer of the wrapper to which the said amorphous vlayer sticks. By these means, as described, a portion of the paper is unchanged and so the strength of the paper is not reduced to such an extent that the paper might break, and on account of the impregnation the amorphous layer canbe comparatively thin.

A supercial impregnation of the wrapper in a cigarette, as described, and the subsequent coating with an amorphous and non-combustion supporting substance which may be metal powder, for instance, bronze powder, or may contain such powder; are effected without diiiiculty in up-todate cigarette manufacture.-

In the accompanying drawing, several adaptations of our invention are illustrated by way oi' example.

In the drawing Fig. 1'is a perspective illustration of a cigarette with an impregnated zone at one end which extends through to theendof thecigarette,

Fig. 2 is an axial section, much enlarged, showing a portion of the wrapper of a cigarette in which the impregnated zone and the amorphous layer are on the inner, and

Fig. 3 is a similar section of a wrapper in which the zone and the layer are on the outer side of the wrapper,

Fig. 4 is a similar section in which one zone and one layer are on the inner, and another zone and another layer are on the outer side of the Wrapper,

Fig. 5 shows a wrapper for the cigarette in Fig. l, spread out, and

Fig. 6 shows a wrapper, also spread out, for a cigarette in which the impregnated zone is spaced apart from the adjacent end.

Referring now to the drawing, and rst to Fig. 1, the cigarette comprises a wrapper'l, oi any suitable material, and a tobacco ller 2 in the wrapper. An impregnated zone i extends inwardly on the wrapper I from the rear end of the cigarette.

As mentioned. the impregnated zone i is preferably on the inner side of the wrapper, as il-` lustrated in Fig. 2. The compound containing 5 the amorphous substance and an impregnating liquid may be applied to the innerside of the wrapper in a single operation, or the impregnating liquid may be applied rst, and the amorphous compound is then applied to the impregnated portion of the wrapper. Under all conditions, however, the impregnating liquid, for instance, water glass or alum, should be of such concentration that `it will not penetrate beyond a given depth, as indicated by the more closely l5 shaded rectangle 3, and that a portion of the paper in the wrapper conserves its exibility and strength, properties which are obviously deteriorated in the impregnated portion 3. l is the amorphous layer on the impregnated zone.

Fig. 3 shows the impregnated zone on the outer side of the wrapper I. Otherwise. this section is quite similar to that in Fig. 2.

Referring to Fig.y 4, the inner impregnated zone il, with the impregnated portion 3 and the 25 layer 4 of amorphous substance, is combined with an outer impregnated zone it which includes the impregnated portion 33 and the layer 44. It will appear that the paper Yof the Wrapper I is not soaked throughout but has an unimpregnated 3 section-between the portions 3 and 33.

Fig. 5 shows the wrapper I for the cigarettes in Figs. 1 to 4, all of which have the impregnated zones i (or i1 and i0) extending as far as the rear end of the cigarette.

Fig. 6 shows a wrapper for a cigarette whose impregnated zone I is spaced apart from the rear end of the cigarette. This zone has been shown narrower than the zone (or ii and is) only by way of example. Obviously it might be as wide .as i, ori might be as narrow as I, as desired orv required.

Our invention also relates to the method of applying the compound to the wrapper. This is eiected by spraying the compound onto the wrapper. As compared with the usual method of pasting a band to the wrapper which may be saidv to be of a physico-chemical character, the spraying method is essentially mechanical and by regulating the spraying pressure the adhesion of the 50 compound to the wrapper, and the depth to which Y the impregnating liquid penetrates into the wrapper, can be regulate We claim:

1. A cigarette comprising a wrapper, a tobacco iiller, and a zone in said wrapper impregnated with a compound which contains water glass, glycerine, starch and talc.

2. A cigarette comprising a wrapper, a tobacco ller, and a zone in said wrapper impregnated 60 with a compound which contains water glass, glycerine, starch and talc, the last-mentioned constituent making up one-fourth of the compound.

3. A cigarette comprising a wrapper, a Vtobacco e5',

filler, and a zone in said wrapper impregnated with a compound which contains water glass,- glycerine, starch whose percentage is determined. by the water content of the water glass, and talc.

4. A cigarette comprising a wrapper, a tobacco

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